Reflections on the #AtoZChallenge2025

This April, joining the AtoZ April Blogging Challenge 2025 was a last minute decision. The months preceding were tough on my health and I wanted to divert my energy into something creative and exciting, so my thought was like—”if I’ve winged it twice, first, in 2016, and later, in 2023, again—I might just be able to do it one more time.” It would be my third year of participation in the #AtoZ Blogging Challenge but what I was really trying to do was to push myself to exercise my creative muscles and see where that takes me.

Of course, the bonus was the sheer spontaneity of it— along with all the exploratory experiences and the challenge as well as the fun of having to write daily. Since I had zero preps this time, it was going to be totally impromptu. Scary. But too exciting to pass up.

I was equally curious to see what my daily practice of writing would do for me. Also, the idea of discovering new blogs might just bring back some of the fun of the earlier years of blogging, that had gone missing, lately.

So, my theme this year was —BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE—which included most of my favourite books, that left a strong imprint on me, and proved to be extremely influential for my growth and learning personally, professionally and creatively too.

The writing journey was well and truly memorable! Writing about my beloved books that have been with me, through the ups and downs of life—travelling across continents, with us, while we moved homes and most importantly, seeing multiple versions of me, as I read and re-read them countless times and through multiple phases of life—was not just beautiful, but enlightening and delightful as well.

Re-living the joys of reading each of these books brought back how much I learned from them—how they shaped and moulded my thinking and changed me in a million ways, was like going back in time all over again….they brought back a torrent of memories, bitter-sweet and happy—reminiscent of times past and the connections to people, some of whom are now long gone—it was mixed emotions, on the whole, but one that I would definitely do all over again, if I had to.

To all my readers and fellow-bloggers and AtoZers who stopped by the blog through April—

Please know that I am absolutely honoured and delighted to have your feedback, comments and thoughts. Unfortunately, for me, having had two rounds of illnesses between the second and the fourth week of April, I had to miss writing/publishing many of my posts on the due date—as you might have already noticed—which made it practically impossible for me to visit other blogs and keep the momentum going. But, the point is I didn’t quit mid-way. I held up strong and completed the challenge on the due date.

For all those of us, who made it to the finish line—that’s all that really matters.

I’m really looking forward to resuming the blog visits again, especially to dive into the posts that I’ve missed so far. April was super tough in every way, but I guess I kept going because of #AtoZ, so deeply grateful for this writing challenge again!

And now, as we look back at the month that was, I do think we should all take a bow!

I’m heading off to grab the Winner’s Badge. After all, the Winner’s Badge isn’t just a badge…it’s a reminder that good things come to us when we persevere, for every little action leads us to our goals. The journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step.

To read the rest of my A to Z posts written for the #AtoZAprilChallenge2025, please click here.